It is known to provide temperature-controlled, compressive, and/or other therapy to the body. For example, temperature-controlled therapy has long been practiced for physical therapy, sports injuries, and other settings. Thermal therapy commonly includes cooling, heating, and/or applying compression to a traumatized area of a human body to facilitate healing and prevent unwanted consequences of the trauma. This form of therapy is commonly referred to as RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation). RICE is also commonly used in sports medicine to reduce the risk of long-term damage to muscles and joints and/or alleviate pain and soreness.
There has been a focus with existing therapy wrap designs on improving conformance to body parts. Better conformance generally leads to improved therapy and the ability to use therapy wraps in a greater array of applications. Conventional therapy devices suffer from poor conformance to body parts that move, such as a joint.
There is a need for thermal therapy wraps with better conformance properties. There is the need for thermal therapy wraps applicable to more treatment settings and patient populations. There is a continuing need for therapy wraps with improved heat exchange performance. There is the need for therapy wraps that can be applied to a wide variety of anatomical shapes. There is a need for a therapy wrap that achieves better apposition of a therapy component to the body. There is a need for a temperature-controlled therapy system with improved patient comfort and/or reduced risks of injury to the body part treated. There is a need for improved systems and methods for heating, cooling, and/or compressing a body in need of treatment.
These and other problems are overcome by the invention disclosed herein.